But that's not what happened late last year when the Salt Lake County Council of Governments decided how to spend a new quarter-cent sales tax for transportation, according to a legislative audit released Tuesday.

The audit found transit projects - such as the Front-

Runner heavy commuter rail from Salt Lake City to Utah County and a TRAX light-

rail spur to West Valley

City - were ranked unrealistically high on the county's priority list because of a calculation error.

So while commuter rail ranked No. 2 on the county's list and received half the available funding, auditors determined that the project really ranked 19th out of 34 for traffic-congestion relief, improved road safety, cost effectiveness and several other factors.

The audit also raised concerns about the Utah Transit Authority treating its share of the voter-approved sales tax as a never-ending money train for operating and maintaining its rail lines - a position UTA officials acknowledged last week, arguing TRAX and FrontRunner would need the revenue "indefinitely" to keep running.

UTA officials shifted that stance Tuesday. Now they say they would seek only the $2.5 billion needed to construct two TRAX spurs and commuter rail.

Don't expect any backtracking by the Council of Governments on its priority list. Even with the audit's findings, COG leaders say, transit projects still would have ranked near the top.

"It would have remained the same," said West Valley City Mayor Dennis Nordfelt, COG's president. "There was a high understanding on our part that the rail projects needed to receive a good portion of that money."

Insiders doubt the audit will derail construction of any of the train lines, but it could affect how such projects are picked in the future.

Last December, COG - consisting of area mayors and County Council members - decided to fund the following four projects:

* A TRAX route to West Valley City.

* A light-rail line to the Jordan burbs.

* Commuter rail to Utah County.

* An Interstate 80 upgrade.

Each of the projects ranked in the top 10 on COG's list. Turns out, the council steered 80 percent of its money toward projects that should have ranked 18th and 19th.

"I would hope it would have changed their minds," said Taylorsville Mayor Russ Wall, who opposed the FrontRunner line as "picking the pockets of Salt Lake County."

But even the audit questions whether a change of priorities would have changed minds, noting "many local officials were strongly supportive of the transit projects."

"[The priority list] was just a tool to weight the projects," said Salt Lake County Councilman Joe Hatch. "It was not an iron-clad rule. The public was extremely happy that more money was going to transit rather than roads."

Pre-election polls showed most residents supported funneling the funding to TRAX and FrontRunner. Ultimately, the measure carried 64 percent of the vote.

The audit's hand-slapping wasn't limited to COG or to the faulty calculations of the Wasatch Front Regional Council, which prepared the list. It also dinged UTA's appetite for sales taxes for its rail projects.

UTA officials told the County Council last month that they would need sales-tax dollars indefinitely to operate and maintain their new lines - a suggestion that left officials steaming.

The idea of perpetual funding also raised red flags among auditors, who urged legislators Tuesday to decide whether sales taxes are an appropriate source for running the rail system.

While the audit found no wrongdoing - the law includes no prohibition against using sales taxes for operations and maintenance - it suggested a possible cap on how much UTA can rely on that funding stream once construction is complete.

UTA General Counsel Bruce Jones said sales taxes are what other transit agencies tap to run their rails.

"That is how transit projects are funded," he said. "The statute does not preclude the tax monies from being used for O&M. That is the only way these lines are operated."

Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, said the audit validates his reservations about the project selection, but reported no intentions to reverse COG's course.

"At this point," he said, "I don't know what we can do."

jstettler@sltrib.com

* A calculation error placed rail above roads in prioritizing projects for a quarter-cent sales tax.

* Decision-makers and documents appeared biased in favor of transit projects.

* Salt Lake County allocated 97.3 percent of its sales-tax funding to transit projects.

* Legally, UTA may use sales taxes to operate its rails indefinitely, but auditors question whether it is appropriate.